THE pursuit of success is often driven as much by the fear of failure as fierce ambition.

Liverpool may be seeking to repeat the joyous scenes of 2005, but they’re equally intent on avoiding the ghoulish spectacle of Jose Mourinho celebrating at Anfield in a week’s time.

The emotional impact of a seismic defeat is often as immeasurable as the euphoria of victory.

Steven Gerrard knows the twin impostors well enough to shrug off claims John Terry and Frank Lampard head into tonight’s semi-final with exclusivity rights to sore memories.

Lampard and Terry’s determination to put right what went wrong two years ago has been presented in some quarters as a pivotal factor in Chelsea’s search for vengeance.

But Gerrard still has his own reference points when it comes to recalling the lows which made the highs taste sweeter.

The last Champions League semi-final between the teams allowed Gerrard to banish thoughts of the own goal in that season’s Carling Cup Final.

Three years earlier, Michael Ballack inspired Bayer Leverkusen to a late quarter-final win over Liverpool in the European Cup, and Gerrard was made a scapegoat for the loss by his own manager.

The skipper has no intention of suffering the same torment.

“I’ve watched that semi-final from 2005 again and again over the last two years,” admits Gerrard.

“When the final whistle goes and you see the faces of the lads and all the supporters, it always brings back all those great memories. But then in a split second the camera switches to the faces of John Terry and Frank Lampard. You see the highs and lows of football right there and then.

“You realise just how small the balance is between being unbelievably happy or totally devastated.

“I know a lot has been made of how they felt that night, but everyone who’s played football at the highest level has been there. A lot of us in the Liverpool squad have been there. I’ve had lows on big occasions too, I know what it’s like and it’s not a feeling I want to have again.

“It does give you the extra motivation if you need it to make sure when the chance comes around again, you take it. That’s why we know we have to be careful.

“I know they’re going to be well up for it tonight, but so will we. We’re all ready for what’s to come and we’re determined to make sure we’re not talking about the pain of losing this game for the next few years.”

Gerrard, Lampard and Terry may be England team-mates, but there’s no danger of a pals act tonight.

“I’ve not spoken to them since we knew we were playing each other and I won’t be,” says Gerrard.

“There’s a job to be done and I don’t think we’d have much to say to each other before this game. I just want to focus on what’s to be done.

“We feel even hungrier to win it this time than in 2005. Everything was a surprise to us two years ago. No-one expected anything from us, and we even shocked ourselves by what we achieved then.

“This is different. We have expectations of ourselves now. I’d go so far as to say we started this year’s competition expecting to go this far, and it would live up to our expectations to win it.

“Once you’ve won it once, it gives you that confidence you need when you’re in the same situation. People always say in football once you’ve tasted than kind of success you just want to experience it again and again, and that’s spot on.

“The other thing is ever since we won it in 2005, we’ve heard certain people saying what a fluke it was and how it couldn’t happen again.

“If we win it two out of three years it will shut them up, but it will also make us one of the great European teams.

“We’ve already shown with the calibre of results we’ve had in Europe that on our day we can beat anyone, but to win the Champions League twice would take us to a different level.

“Okay, not competing for the Premiership again has been disappointing and we know that’s where we have to improve, but in Europe we’ve beaten all the top clubs. You don’t beat the likes of Juventus, Milan, Chelsea and Barcelona without being a top side.

“We’ll approach the game the same way we did in the Nou Camp and away to PSV when we put in top performances. I think it’s about us being positive. We’ve done it before so it’s not a trip into the unknown for us. We’ve got the belief to do it again.

“The plan is to give ourselves a great chance when we get them back to Anfield. If the tie is still in the balance when we come back to our place, the advantage definitely switches back to us. They’ll know what it’s going to be like here, and even if they can try to prepare themselves for it, they’ll still need to deal with it, and that’s a lot tougher.

“It’s been a bit low key for us in the last few games, but I think the boys deserve a lot of credit for getting the job done in the league. The aim was to make sure we were in next year’s Champions League before the semi-final and we’ve done that.

“Maybe we’ve had some advantage in the preparation but we won’t be thinking they won’t be fresh. This is a Champions League semi-final and they’ll be as up for it as we are.”

There are some games which define a season. There are others, such as the epic with Chelsea in 2005, which define a career.

Gerrard appreciates what’s at stake and is eager for his third major piece of silverware as captain, hoping to become the first Liverpool skipper since Emlyn Hughes to lift the European Cup twice.

“It’s our last chance to win a trophy this season,” he said.

“We’ve two, hopefully three games, to define our season. If we can get to Athens and win the Champions League again, even though we haven’t achieved as much as we wanted in the league, we can say the season has been a success.”